American Arrested on Trip to Kill Bin Laden

He’ll let us know if he had any leads, we hope: Gary Brooks Faulkner was arrested with a 40-inch sword, a pistol, and night-vision gear in northern Pakistan while on a mission to kill Osama bin Laden, he told police. The California construction worker, 52, was nabbed in a forest in the Chitral region Sunday. "We initially laughed when he told us that he wanted to kill Osama bin Laden," a Pakistani police officer said. But after finding Faulkner’s weapons, "our suspicion grew." He was also carrying a book of Christian teachings. Faulkner told investigators that this was his third trip to the area, and his seventh to Pakistan. He had checked into a hotel in Bumburate on June 3 and was assigned a policeman—a common practice for foreigners in remote parts of the country—and when he checked out without informing the cops, they started looking for him. Faulkner was headed to Nuristan, in eastern Afghanistan, a reported possible hiding place for bin Laden. American embassy officials are trying to meet with Faulkner to confirm his identity.